<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>communication by youcouldmakealife</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27331417">communication</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/youcouldmakealife/pseuds/youcouldmakealife'>youcouldmakealife</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>it's a setup [28]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, YCMAL 'verse</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 23:14:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,452</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27331417</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/youcouldmakealife/pseuds/youcouldmakealife</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Joey carefully rolls over, and he doesn’t know if Scratch was in a light sleep cycle or already awake, but his eyes blink open and meet Joey’s.</p><p>“Scratch,” Joey says.</p><p>“Money,” Scratch replies, low, a little gravelly, like he always is when he’s barely awake. He was sleeping, then.</p><p>“You’re here,” Joey says.</p><p>“I’m here,” Scratch says, sounding more awake now. “Is that bad?”</p><p>Joey shakes his head.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>OMC/OMC</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>it's a setup [28]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1669567</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>377</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>communication</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Joey wakes up too hot. It takes a moment to figure out why — there’s another person in his bed — and then the context. It’s too hot because it’s June in Missouri and there’s another person in his bed. The person is Scratch. He’s in Joey’s bed for a reason.</p><p>He has a moment of happiness that’s almost immediately overwhelmed by sadness.</p><p>They didn’t win the Cup.</p><p>Again.</p><p>Joey carefully rolls over, and he doesn’t know if Scratch was in a light sleep cycle or already awake, but his eyes blink open and meet Joey’s.</p><p>“Scratch,” Joey says.</p><p>“Money,” Scratch replies, low, a little gravelly, like he always is when he’s barely awake. He was sleeping, then.</p><p>“You’re here,” Joey says.</p><p>“I’m here,” Scratch says, sounding more awake now. “Is that bad?”</p><p>Joey shakes his head. “We lost.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Scratch says.</p><p>“That fucking sucks,” Joey says.</p><p>“Yeah,” Scratch says.</p><p>“But you being here in my bed does not suck,” Joey says. “For the record.”</p><p>“I’m glad you think so,” Scratch says.</p><p>“I do,” Joey says. “Is cuddling allowed now? I think I need a sad cuddle.”</p><p>Scratch holds his arm out and Joey tucks his head against his shoulder after double-checking it’s not the bruised one.</p><p>“This really fucking sucks, Scratch,” Joey mumbles, and Scratch hauls him in closer. “I really fucking wanted it.”</p><p>“I know, Money, me too,” Scratch says softly.</p><p>“If I cry into your shirt for a minute or two are you going to make fun of me?” Joey asks.</p><p>“Nope,” Scratch says, so Joey’s got a plan for the next few minutes.</p><p>The crying into Scratch’s shirt probably takes more than a minute or two. Scratch doesn’t complain about it, just waits it out until Joey feels wrung out but a bit better. Also like he needs kleenex.</p><p>“Okay, all done,” Joey tells Scratch. “Thank you for your patience.”</p><p>Scratch’s mouth tips up, sort of a smile, sort of not. He’s not a crier like Joey is, but Joey knows he isn’t any less sad about losing.</p><p>“Bathroom,” Joey says, heads to the bathroom to blow his nose, inspect his face. Bloodshot eyes with bags under them and blotchy cheeks everywhere he isn’t scraggly beard. Scratch is getting the best of Joey right away. Not that it’s the first time Joey’s cried all over him, but still.</p><p>Scratch is patiently waiting in the hallway when Joey exits. </p><p>“I gotta go get some stuff from my place,” Scratch says uncertainly.</p><p>“Okay,” Joey says.</p><p>“I wouldn’t but literally none of your clothes would fit me properly, so,” Scratch says. “I’m not like. Making an excuse to jet here, I just really don’t want put yesterday’s suit back on. Hell, I might burn that fucking suit.”</p><p>“I feel that,” Joey says. Not that he’ll burn his, it’s his best, but — now he kind of wants to burn his.</p><p>“I’ll be five minutes,” Scratch says. “Seven tops.”</p><p>“I mean, I have to shower. You have to shower. Seems faster to do that at the same time,” Joey says. “In our respective apartments,” he adds, because that sounded — not what he meant. And would not be faster.</p><p>“I gotcha,” Scratch says.</p><p>“Want me to order us some shitty fast food for breakfast and we regroup in thirty?” Joey says.</p><p>“Fuck yes,” Scratch says. “I love you.”</p><p>“I am very lovable,” Joey says. “And like —”</p><p>Scratch patiently waits.</p><p>“You as well?” Joey says. “I am — very fond of you. And your face. And entire self. Extremely fond.”</p><p>“Thanks Money,” Scratch says solemnly.</p><p>One day Joey will not fail at words. It clearly isn’t today.</p><p>When Scratch leaves it’s like he takes every trace of happiness with him. Which makes sense, Joey guesses, because things with Scratch were the only positive in the absolute shitshow that was yesterday, so all Joey has now is himself and reliving the nightmare that was losing in the Stanley Cup Finals. Again.</p><p>He orders McDonalds before he gets in the shower. Scratch likes McDonalds. Joey likes their coffee well enough. </p><p>Joey apparently is not done with the tears, seeing as he spends more time on crying than personal hygiene, but that’s between him and his shower head. His eyes don’t look any worse when he frowns at himself in the mirror after, and he’s not as blotchy, thankfully. He considers putting his bridge in, but food’s coming, he’s not a huge fan of eating with it — still feels weird, maybe because he doesn’t bother putting it in often enough — and anyway, Scratch is used to him without it. Though he should probably pop it in for like, kissing purposes. Scratch deserves the best.</p><p>The McDonalds is almost set to arrive after Joey’s clean and cry, which is good timing. Joey gets dressed, gets the greasy bag, sips his coffee while he waits for Scratch to barge in again.</p><p>There’s no knock when Scratch returns, just him walking in, kicking his shoes off, then going “McDonalds!” and beelining straight for the couch.</p><p>“Wait!” Joey says, holding the bag protectively. “I have a question first.”</p><p>Scratch pouts down at the bag, then gives him an expectant look.</p><p>“Do you want to be my boyfriend?” Joey asks.</p><p>“Yes,” Scratch says immediately, with much more surety than Joey was expecting. “I think we established this?”</p><p>“The establishing is currently happening,” Joey says.</p><p>“Okay, so — yes,” Scratch says. “That is what I want. If you’re cool with that.”</p><p>“I am cool with that,” Joey says.</p><p>“Good,” Scratch says.</p><p>“Good,” Joey says. “You want the Sausage McGriddle or the Egg McMuffin?”</p><p>“Don’t pretend you don’t know me,” Scratch scoffs, and Joey tosses the McGriddle his way.</p><p>“Did you get the extra value meal?” Scratch asks hopefully.</p><p>“Eat your sandwich and find out,” Joey says.</p><p>“But they’re way better when they’re hot,” Scratch says, and Joey sighs before tossing him the hash brown.</p><p>Scratch waits until Joey’s mouth is full of sandwich before he says, “You’re a junk food enabler,” laughing like an evil villain to himself as Joey chokes on indignation.</p><p>Joey puts his sandwich down, glaring at Scratch, picks his phone up, feeling like he can finally tackle responding to some of the messages with Scratch happily inhaling his breakfast beside him on the couch, like he’s got some new Scratch barrier from the world or something. It doesn’t make sense, but whatever.</p><p>He’s got three missed calls from Casey from the night before, and she’s probably the easiest to talk to. Has an adjoining room with mom and dad too, so she can deliver any messages and Joey won’t have to talk to them. Not that he won’t eventually, just that he thinks he might cry if he talked to either of them right now, and three times is too many times to cry in one day.</p><p>“Finally!” Casey says when she answers the phone, then, “I’m sorry Joey.”</p><p>“Sorry I didn’t pick up any of your calls,” Joey says. “Too busy banging Scratch last night.”</p><p>“First of all that is far more information than I’d ever like about your sex life,” Casey says quickly. </p><p>“That’s not even true!” Scratch says, then, even louder, “That’s not even true, Casey!”</p><p>It isn’t true. Turns out that once all the ‘bad thing happened then good thing happened and adrenaline and endorphins are very confused’ ran out, Joey was fucking wiped and it was all he could do to undress before he crashed. Joey didn’t even have the energy to change into sleep sweats, it was just ‘okay, my pants are off, can I sleep now, Scratch, man who is very insistent I can’t sleep in my suit for some reason?’</p><p>He appreciates Scratch’s insistence in hindsight. He woke up sore and overheated and dealing with a wave of sadness, he doubts waking up still fully dressed would have helped any of those things.</p><p>“But you’ve like — figured things out?” Casey asks.</p><p>“Yeah,” Joey says.</p><p>“Like, you’re a couple figured it out?” Casey says.</p><p>“Yeah,” Joey says.</p><p>“Yay!” Casey says. “Give Nick the phone!”</p><p>“Don’t say anything mean about me,” Joey says, and hands Scratch his phone.</p><p>He can hear Casey say ‘yay!’ again, tinnier this time, and Scratch grins at him. Whatever else Casey’s saying, Joey can’t hear it, but Scratch keeps on grinning, so it’s probably not bad. Or at least not bad to Scratch. She may well be saying mean things about Joey, and Scratch is just a receptive audience. She’s certainly saying a lot, Scratch patiently listening, smiling the whole time.</p><p>“Yeah, for sure I’ll see you before you head home,” Scratch says before handing the phone back to Joey. When Joey puts it to his ear, he discovers that Casey has hung up without saying goodbye, which is rude. </p><p>“Did she say mean things about me?” Joey asks.</p><p>“So many mean things,” Scratch says.</p><p>“I explicitly told her not to say mean things about me!” Joey says.</p><p>“Don’t worry, I knew all of the mean things already,” Scratch says. “She can’t scare me away with her mean yet accurate statements about you.”</p><p>“Still an unsisterly betrayal, but good to know,” Joey says. He starts tackling some of his texts, starting with the easiest — the ones he can respond with a generic ‘sucks but thanks for reaching out’, and Scratch is doing the same, but with way more messages. It’s crazy to Joey that he doesn’t realize how many people he knows right up until that happens? And Scratch has approximately a million extended family members he’s probably replying to right now.</p><p>“My thumbs hurt,” Scratch complains when Joey’s finally wrapping up with a text to his mom that he needs a day and he’ll call them tomorrow.</p><p>“How many do you have left?” Joey asks.</p><p>“I don’t even want to count them,” Scratch says.</p><p>“I can provide motivation,” Joey says.</p><p>Scratch raises an eyebrow.</p><p>“That came out dirty,” Joey says. “I didn’t actually mean it dirty.”</p><p>“How’d you mean it then?” Scratch asks.</p><p>“There are Gobstoppers in your cupboard,” Joey says. “I didn’t know if they were going to be celebration Gobstoppers or sad Gobstoppers but I figured I should stock up.”</p><p>“Such an enabler,” Scratch says, rolling off the couch and beelining straight for his cupboard.</p><p>“Bring me crackers!” Joey calls after him. He wasn’t all that interested in the Egg McMuffin even when it was warm, he has zero interest in it now that it’s gone cold. “And water!”</p><p>“I see how it is,” Scratch says, before rummaging through Joey’s treat cupboard, making some disgusted noises, presumably at what Joey considers treats, and returning with the Gobstoppers, a box of Triscuits, and two glasses of water. Joey kind of wanted the seeded crackers, but he’s too lazy to get up, so he accepts Scratch’s cracker decision.</p><p>Joey munches. Scratch pops a Gobstopper in his mouth.</p><p>“So like,” Joey says. “What now?”</p><p>“What do you mean?” Scratch asks.</p><p>“What changes?” Joey asks.</p><p>“Still not following,” Scratch says.</p><p>“Like you want to be my boyfriend,” Joey says. Scratch gives him a confirmation nod. “The feeling is mutual. What are we doing?”</p><p>“The same but different?” Scratch says.</p><p>“That is confusing,” Joey informs him.</p><p>“I mean, there was — soul searching when I realized I had feelings for you,” Scratch says. “About what I wanted to change in our relationship.”</p><p>“And?” Joey says. “Wait, is that just a sly way of saying you jerked off thinking about me?”</p><p>Scratch throws a Gobstopper at him, one Joey barely ducks.</p><p>“The Gobstopper totally means yes,” Joey says. “I know your Gobstopper ways.”</p><p>Gobstoppers have now become metaphors for love <i>and</i> sex. They’re incredibly versatile.</p><p>“It wasn’t purple,” Scratch says. </p><p>“So you didn’t jerk off, then?” Joey says. “Hurtful.”</p><p>Scratch does that laugh he does when he’s mad at Joey for making him laugh. Or mad at himself for laughing. Or both. “Fuck off,” he says. “Come here.”</p><p>Joey shouldn’t let Scratch get out answering the question by bribing Joey with a kiss, but he’ll set up different guidelines when this isn’t brand new, when kissing Scratch doesn’t feel like a revelation. Joey always picks up on shit last though, so it might be a revelation for awhile.</p><p>Scratch tastes disgustingly sweet, just like Joey had expected he would.</p><p>“You taste sweet,” Joey tells him accusingly as he pulls away.</p><p>“You are literally the only person in the world who would say that as a complaint instead of a compliment,” Scratch says. </p><p>“Yeah, almost eight billion people in the world and none of them,” Joey says, “None of them!” he repeats as Scratch attempts to murder him with a pillow.</p><p>Scratch drops the pillow when Joey quits mumbling into it about how statistically unlikely it is that he’s the only person in the world without a sweet tooth.</p><p>“Hey Money?” Scratch says.</p><p>“Yeah?” Joey says.</p><p>“I’m pretty fucking gone for you in every single way,” Scratch says. “I know that’s been established, I just want to make it clear. Stop short circuiting.”</p><p>“I’m not short circuiting,” Joey says.</p><p>“You’re curling into a ball like a hedgehog,” Scratch says.</p><p>“No I’m not,” Joey says.</p><p>“Yes you are,” Scratch says, and pokes him.</p><p>Joey curls in tighter. </p><p>“I know you—” Scratch says. “I mean. I know you. Like. Pretty well, I think.”</p><p>“You are quite knowledgeable about me,” Joey agrees. “A Joey Munroe expert, even.”</p><p>“And I know you’re not going to like—” Scratch says. “Believe me.”</p><p>“You are a very trustworthy person,” Joey argues.</p><p>“I am,” Scratch says. “And I know you know that. But I also know deep down you’re currently like ‘yeah but wait a week Scratch might change his mind when he sees the real me’. And I’ve seen it, okay? And I can’t get enough of it, I want to be around you all the fucking time, in every single way. That’s like — you’re the most certain thing I know.”</p><p>Joey is very small now.</p><p>“And I know you don’t believe me,” Scratch says. “Or you do but you don’t. And I get it. I hate that, but I get it. But I’m just going to keep saying it until one day you do.”</p><p>“Please don’t make me cry for the second time today,” Joey says. “That’s too many times in a day.”</p><p>“Don’t lie to me,” Scratch says. “You cried in the shower too.”</p><p>How does Scratch know that? He wasn’t even <i>there</i>.</p><p>“Told you,” Scratch says, like Joey asked. Or maybe Joey’s face is just obvious again. “I know you.”</p><p>“I know,” Joey says.</p><p>“And yeah, I jerked off,” Scratch says, and attempts to smother Joey again when Joey uncurls from his ball to mock him for his terrible taste in men.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>